senator mccain to sponsor a burma sanction bill, sanctions were put in place in 1997 and only loosened in july of this year. senator mcconnell became one of aung san suu kyi's chief advocates and we continue to work on behalf of the people of burma. in 2003 following an assassination attempt senator mcconnell and i worked to pass an important man the remains in place today, an effort to bring about further reform and i must say burma is extremely lucky to have a champion like aung san suu kyi. in the face of violence, intimidation, harassment, she has never wavered from her principles or ceased her push for democracy and human rights. she celebrates the relief of political prisoners including approximately 90 released this week but she remains true to them to remain behind bars, a number estimated to be around 200. this woman sacrificed many years of her life to bring about these changes. she is truly an inspiration to the world. you are so well deserving of this congressional gold medal i can only begin to express my thrills and happiness that we are able to present this to you today in this